The University of Madras has withdrawn a memo issued to one of its professors for participating in protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Sri Lanka.
The Department of Politics and Public Administration HoD R. Manivannan had participated in a students’ demonstration on March 13 in the Chepauk premises in support of the rights of Tamils in Sri Lanka. He, along with the students, was detained in police custody for over three hours.
The university issued a memo the next day to the professor declaring that he had “defaced the image of the university by participating in demonstrations” and had spoken to the media, which was a violation of university employees’ rules.
Protesting this, the students on Thursday staged a demonstration in campus demanding the university administration to withdraw its memo. A week prior to the protest against Mr. Modi’s visit, the students had indulged in three hours of sloganeering demanding drinking water, better maintained toilets and library. Though some students said the university had begun providing water cans on each floor, they were hoping that an RO plant would be installed.
Meanwhile, the Thamizh Manavar Peravai, which also joined the protest on Thursday, has also placed several demands. Former Vice-Chancellor G. Thiruvasagam had installed on the university clock tower an equipment to relay Tirukkural couplets every hour.
The equipment has become defunct for several months now.
